In the Middle of Nowhere
Pampas, Argentina 2007
In my south-American peripatetic wanderings I had never found before a landscape so vastly barren and majestic. My eyes were delighted to see the proud Argentinean Pampas, with his huge expanses of land where vicuñas and lamas happily graze. I immediately realized that working here in these places will greatly open up new perspectives for my project on what I’ve already considered “my” continent for a while.
I was so lucky to get this group of exceptional students totally dedicated to their photographic growth and eager to learn. I loved the idea of people speaking different languages coming together unified by their sheer love for photography. As Willard pointed out, the idea of photographing nothingness was a fantastic challenge for all of us. It even served as inspiration for the name of the group: En el Medico de la Nada In the Middle of Nowhere). When we would get to a quiet village with few signs of daily life, I’d always encourage all of them to seek moments, to hang around long enough. And sure enough, almost by magic, simple and yet special epiphanies would pop up out of nowhere. Then in Casabindo we had to face the opposite challenge of large groups of people partaking in this very unique religious festival. Angry bulls everywhere, a bloodless bullfight, offerings to the Pacha Mama, our mother earth, and many unforgettable other instants were unfolding before our eyes.
The editing sessions by the fireplace, eating cheese, drinking rum were simply a great way of being together and a learning forum for all of us.
Two situations will stay with me forever: the first one inside a small cemetery so silent and elegant where we saw a little boy carrying a huge wooden beam descending from a steep hill where his grandfather was building a grave Then I remember the goat slaughtering inside a modest house where a playful boy laying on the dead animal started using the carcass as if it were a drum.
Simple, profound, unexpected moments that the Goddess of photography bestows sporadically on the lucky ones who stubbornly persist in what we believe in without ever stopping.
I promise to post some of my new images before the end of 2008 on my web page. EB
